Health And Fitness Assessments

Conference demands that the Executive Council enter into negotiations with our national employers to ensure all health and fitness standards that all uniformed employees with an operational commitment are required to attain are appropriate and measured consistently to ensure: • Fitness standards demanded of operational firefighters are appropriate and realistic and all Fire Service personnel with an operational commitment are required to achieve them; • Standards are appropriately graded to acknowledge the differing physiology of males and females; • Standards are appropriately graded to take account of the natural decline in aerobic capacity as a result of ageing; • A moratorium of a minimum period of 12 months from introduction of fitness testing to being required to achieve the agreed desired standard; • An agreement to provide one hour each working day as part of the work routine devoted to physical fitness training for wholetime personnel with an operational commitment on any duty system worked and appropriate arrangements for personnel working in the RDS; • An agreement to provide and maintain appropriate fitness equipment at Fire Service work places with appropriate access arrangements for RDS personnel; • Any agreed interim fitness standard that a failure to achieve would necessitate removal from operational duty is appropriate and realistic and takes account of age and sex differences; • Outcomes are as reliable and as accurate as possible and that aerobic testing using gas analysis is provided. This to ensure the reliability and accuracy of aerobic capacity tests that may indicate a failure to achieve the desired interim or desired final standard; • An agreed range of appropriate methods of creating the necessary physical exertion for fitness testing and measuring to be carried out be incorporated in the policy.